Local families of racing crews share their stories

Wednesday

May 9, 2018 at 11:37 AMMay 9, 2018 at 11:37 AM

Pride and anxiety felt on the home front with family members at sea.

NEWPORT — The Volvo Ocean Race isn’t only tough on the sailors.

Charles Dana, whose son Nick serves as team captain aboard the Vestas 11th Hour Racing boat, told The Daily News Monday morning that following the international sailing race from afar can be pretty nerve-wracking — a message echoed by others watching the action from home.

Like when the Vestas — or any of the boats in the race — suddenly stop moving, something that can be tracked every moment at volvooceanrace.com.

“We’re a sailing family, so we’re not faint of heart here,” said Charles Dana, owner of Newport Shipyard & Marina on Washington Street.

“It seems like one of us is tracking the race at all times and there have been moments when one of the boats just stops and you wonder, ‘What’s going on?’”

That was true when Vestas was involved in an accident with a fishing boat that killed a fisherman outside of Hong Kong, and when the race boat lost its mast off the Falkland Islands.

“I’ll be honest: The families, the loved ones, worry a lot when something like that happens,” Dana said. “A phone call will come and we get information as family before the general public does and you pick up the line and wonder what it is.”

Outside those examples, Dana said he’ll email with his son a couple of times a month and get to talk on the phone here and there. He wants to hear from Nick more often, but access is limited as the race is going on.

Nick Dana recently spoke to students at St. Michael’s Country Day School via an internet chat and his father was there to take in the session.

Dana said his son kept his trademark humor intact despite being in the middle of the ocean. At one point, he told his dad his 1961 Chevy pickup was due for a new battery, something he joked he wouldn’t mind seeing his family take care of before he sailed into Newport Harbor.

“Nick’s always had a good sense of humor and when he’s joking around, you know he’s OK,” Dana said. “What his team, all the teams, are able to do has been unbelievable.”

Meris Enright, wife of Vestas skipper Charlie Enright, said she is looking forward to seeing her husband again. So was the couple’s 2-year-old son Thomas and daughter Maggie, who’s coming up on her first birthday.

During the 2015 race when Enright led the Team Alvimedica squad, Meris was pregnant with Thomas.

If possible, she said she planned to be at Fort Adams State Park as the boats come in overnight, but it's complicated by the kids at home.

“Newport was such a huge highlight for all of us in the last race,” Meris Enright said Monday. “It’s like a homecoming for everyone and it’s so cool to see them sail into the harbor.”

Enright said having her husband away is difficult, especially as milestones are reached with the kids — things like first words, first steps or other events that will become future memories.

At the same time, Enright said she knows how much Charlie has worked to make Vestas a success.

“Sometimes, some people lose sight of what a cool experience this is,” she said. “To sail around the world and see it in a way that most people could never imagine, that’s something I think might get overlooked.”

During slow periods onboard, Meris Enright said she’ll speak with her husband daily. Besides hearing about what’s happening back home and with the kids, she said he’s usually looking for updates about how the Boston sports teams are performing. Most recently, he wanted details about the draft results for the New England Patriots.

However, when it’s busy and the finish line for a leg of the race is near, she’ll go days without a word.

“It all depends on the leg and what’s going on,” Enright said, laughing. “There are times where it’s every day. Now, with all the planning and strategy coming into Newport, I haven’t heard anything in a few days, but I know he’s busy.”

She said plans for a big family-crew barbecue on a new grill are already in the works.

“I think one thing that’s really unique about this event is you get to know the people in the race and the (Volvo) community,” she said. “We all share the same experience and that’s one thing that helps make it such a unique experience. It’s not easy for any of us, but what a cool opportunity and a one-in-a-lifetime experience to be part of.”

Charles Dana said he always comes away impressed with the camaraderie of the event.

“When Nick’s team wins, it’s great. It makes you feel on top of the world,” Dana said. “You can see they’re all happy for each other and there’s such a belief, a camaraderie among them. In the America’s Cup, it’s almost like one team wants to do the other in, but not here. With the Volvo, they’re all pulling for each other.”

That’s even more obvious when any of the Volvo Ocean Race vessels encounter trouble, Dana said.

“When what happened in Hong Kong, it was the worst, something that each one of those sailors will carry with them forever,” Dana said. “Saying that, I think the way they handled themselves was unbelievable, doing all the right things, saying all the right things.

“Losing the mast, by my calculation they were about eight hours out of that mess and they would have made it. It was just a tough break and again, they all handled themselves so well.”

Dana said it seems like this version of the race has been more difficult than in years past.

“I was reading somewhere about how there was 30 percent more Southern Ocean in this Volvo race compared to the past,” Dana said. “Every race, the routes are different and this one was particularly bad. One sailor I heard speaking said after being in five Volvos, this was easily the worst in terms of weather and waves.”

Dana said he was looking forward to seeing Nick again and knowing his feet are on firm ground.

“Like they say, this is a grueling, grueling race,” Dana said. “I agree that it is the toughest contest in sport and when he’s home we get to exhale a bit, something I haven’t realized until recently, how relieved we all are to have him in port.”

msheley@newportri.com

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